The present invention relates to an improvement in non-magnetic austenitic stainless steel.
Pinch rolls are used in continuous casting equipment for continuously withdrawing a slab or the like from a mold containing molten steel. When the slab passes between the pinch rolls, the inner portion of the slab is still in a molten state and is prone to segregation in the course of solidification. Accordingly an electromagnetic stirrer is provided for at least one of pinch rolls to produce a moving magnetic field and pass the slab through the magnetic field, thereby causing lines of magnetic force to stir the unsolidified inner portion of the slab to improve the quality of the portion.
The pinch roll having the electromagnetic stirrer therein must of course be non-magnetic so as not to be magnetized itself and must also have high hardness so as to have good durability.
The materials heretofore used for such rolls include 0.03C-18CR-8-Ni alloy (AISI 304). However, the alloy is about 1.006 in magnetic permeability .mu. and about 165 in Vickers hardness and is not fully satisfactory in magnetic permeability and hardness, so that it is required to develop non-magnetic alloys having a lower magnetic permeability and higher hardness.